Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Sold by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD trimmed its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,610,561 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 190,694 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 5.17% of Equity Residential worth $1,407,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,493,426,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,522,442 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $468,050,000 after buying an additional 696,343 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 8.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,745,615 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $576,737,000 after buying an additional 591,866 shares during the last quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 79.1% in the fourth quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 1,161,137 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $83,323,000 after acquiring an additional 512,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new position in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at $32,664,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $683,728.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,781 shares in the company, valued at $1,930,106.67. This trade represents a 26.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $46,262.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays cut their price objective on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.01.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

EQR traded down $0.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $68.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,318,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,694,798. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.04 billion, a PE ratio of 25.21, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.85. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $59.41 and a fifty-two week high of $78.84.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. This is a positive change from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.84%.

About Equity Residential

Equity Residential is committed to creating communities where people thrive. The Company, a member of the S&P 500, is focused on the acquisition, development and management of residential properties located in and around dynamic cities that attract affluent long-term renters. Equity Residential owns or has investments in 305 properties consisting of 80,683 apartment units, with an established presence in Boston, New York, Washington, DC, Seattle, San Francisco and Southern California, and an expanding presence in Denver, Atlanta, Dallas/Ft.